Q: How do teams in the NCAA Tournament, like Syracuse, book flights with so little time before they know if and/or where (as in the first rounds) they are going? Does the NCAA have a deal with one or more of the major airlines?

-- Jerry

Mike Waters: I spoke with Syracuse University senior associate director of athletics Rod Edson to get the answers to your questions. Edson explained that the NCAA pays for the teams' trips to the regional sites. Each team is allotted a traveling party of 75 people.

There's no deal with any airlines. To make travel easier, the teams book chartered flights.

The NCAA does have a rule that says it won't pay for air travel if the school is located within 350 miles of the NCAA site. In that case, the NCAA will pay for bus travel. If the school chooses to fly, it must pay the difference between going by bus versus the cost of the air travel.

It's even easier for the NCAA to take care of hotels for the teams. The NCAA blocks rooms two years in advance, knowing that eight teams will go to each regional and four teams to each regional final. The NCAA has already booked hotel rooms for next year's NCAA regional in Syracuse.

Q: Hey Mike, What was (Tiki Mayben's) story? Was he ever enrolled at Cuse or was he committed then didn't make grades? I know he went to UMass and left there or got kicked out then wound up at Binghamton?

-- David D.

Mike Waters: Tiki Mayben originally committed to Syracuse, but he failed to qualify for freshman admission to SU. SU doesn't take partial qualifiers. The SU coaches wanted him to go to a prep school. Tiki didn't want to do that and decided to go to UMass, which does take partial qualifiers. He still had to sit out his first year at UMass, but he preferred doing that compared to playing at a prep school. He played one year at UMass and then left. He spent one year at Mohawk Valley Community College and this year he's at Binghamton where he's technically a junior.

Q: Why is it we always seem to have a short bench? Do we have fewer scholarship players than other teams? What gives?

-- Dennis L.

Mike Waters: Syracuse gets 13 scholarships; just like every other NCAA Division I team.

Jim Boeheim believes that giving more minutes to his eighth, ninth or 10th player helps that player, but doesn't necessarily help the team. It takes away minutes from his first, second and third player. I remember once when he told me, "Why would I want to take Billy Owens out of the game?"